MATCH INFO:

Manchester United vs. Arsenal

Leigh Sports Village Stadium, Leigh, England

Kickoff: November 8th, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EST

WHERE TO WATCH: The FA Player

It is shaping up to be an exciting weekend of soccer in the FA Women’s Super League, with six matches set to take place between Saturday and Sunday. On our radar is the upcoming tilt between Arsenal, who currently sits atop the WSL standings, and Manchester United, currently in third. The match will be played this Sunday, November 8th at 7:00 a.m. EST at Leigh Sports Village Stadium in Leigh, England.

Straight back to it ????

All eyes on Sunday ????#MUWomen pic.twitter.com/b8357cB995

— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) November 5, 2020

Arsenal has had quite an impressive start to the 2020-2021 season, maintaining an undefeated streak and a 5-0-0 record with five wins in five matches played. In those five matches, Arsenal has scored 29 goals while simultaneously only allowing 4 goals against — earning a perfect 15 points to reign atop the league standings, though only a mere 2 points separate Arsenal from both second-place Everton and Manchester United.

Manchester United has likewise been off to a hot start, winning four and drawing one of their five league matches for a 4-1-0 record. Thus far, the squad has recorded 14 goals and limited their opponents to only 5 goals against. Like Everton, Manchester United has 13 points, with only goal differential separating the two.

Here's how the #BarclaysFAWSL table looks after gameweek 5️⃣ ???? pic.twitter.com/LRDARmefhy

— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) October 18, 2020

Needless to say, Sunday’s matchup will be a fight —  especially given Manchester United’s recent additions. In September, the club signed US women’s national team stars Tobin Heath and Christen Press. Heath, who left the Portland Thorns to play in Manchester, has recorded 168 appearances with the USWNT, scoring 33 goals and assisting 40 for her country. Press, on the other hand, joins Manchester United from the Utah Royals and has logged 138 appearances for the USWNT, in which she’s netted 58 goals and assisted 37. The pair have also won two World Cup trophies for the United States in 2015 and 2019.

Since their signings, the two have already left a notable impression on Manchester United — each opening their scoring account with the club in their third appearance for the team, boosting Manchester United to a 4-2 win over West Ham United on October 18th.

Red & Ready! @ManUtdWomen pic.twitter.com/hZudQBEwKR

— Christen Press (@ChristenPress) September 24, 2020

This expert @TobinHeath finish for #MUWomen is on the October shortlist for Goal of the Month! ????@OfficialPES

— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) November 3, 2020

Arsenal has not faced Manchester United since the team added Heath and Press to their roster, meaning this match could be anyone’s game. The last meeting between the two squads took place back in February, with Arsenal holding onto a 2-1 win to knock Manchester United out of the Continental Tyres League Cup. Dutch-born forward Vivianne Miedema recorded the brace for Arsenal while Mollie Green notched Manchester United’s lone goal in the late minutes of the match, sparking hope for a comeback that fell short as the final whistle blew.

Providing Everton loses to Chelsea on Sunday, Manchester United has the opportunity to dethrone Arsenal and move into first place in WSL League 1 standings should they secure the win and three points. There’s a lot on the line, which means there’s plenty of reasons to wake up early for this powerhouse showdown on Sunday.

WHAT’S NEXT IN THE FA WSL:

 

November 14th 

Manchester United vs. Manchester City @ 7:30 a.m. EST

Aston Villa vs. Birmingham City @ 9:30 a.m. EST

Everton vs. Reading FC @ 11:30 a.m. EST

Bristol City vs. Tottenham @ 1:30 p.m. EST

November 15th

West Ham vs. Brighton & Hove Albion @ 7:30 a.m. EST

Arsenal vs. Chelsea @ 9:30 a.m. EST

Another Washington Spirit coach is departing DC, with multiple weekend reports linking current manager Jonatan Giráldez to the newly opened head coaching job at French Première Ligue side OL Lyonnes.

According to The Athletic, Giráldez will step away from the Spirit in June, with assistant Adrián González — who led Washington as interim manager prior to Giráldez's mid-2024 arrival — set to take over the NWSL squad on July 18th.

The move follows additional reports that first-year OL Lyonnes boss Joe Montemurro is Australia-bound after agreeing to head up his home country's national team, the Matildas.

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Spirit coach swap raises questions for multi-team owner Kang

With Giráldez jumping from one Michele Kang-owned team to another, the former Barcelona manager's European return raises questions about Kang's multi-club ownership model — and concerns about the future of injured Spirit star Trinity Rodman, who recently took leave from the NWSL to seek treatment overseas.

"We are not going to sacrifice one team to make another team successful. Absolutely not," Kang told Forbes in 2024 interview. "Our goal is to make every team the champion in each of their leagues."

In addition to the Spirit and OL Lyonnes, Kang's Kynisca corporation also owns recently promoted WSL side London City Lionesses.

The Spirit has weathered big changes before, but Kang's involvement in this particular personnel swap will face critique should Washington lose pace later this season.

Two US tennis stars are still shining at the 2025 French Open, as world No. 8 Madison Keys and No. 2 Coco Gauff blew through their Round of 16 matches on Monday to set up an all-US quarterfinal showdown on Tuesday.

Gauff dealt No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova a dominant 6-0, 7-5 loss early Monday morning, while 2025 Australian Open champion Keys ended fellow US player No. 70 Hailey Baptiste's French Open run with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat shortly afterward.

"Coco is so good, and especially on clay," Keys said ahead of her upcoming quarterfinal opponent. "She's an unbelievable player and such a great athlete.... I'm looking forward to it and happy to see there will be another American in the semifinals."

Five US women and three men reached the fourth round at Roland-Garros this past weekend, tying the country's 1985 record before Baptiste joined No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 16 Amanda Anisimova on the ousted list.

No US player has won the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015, with both Gauff and Keys shooting for a championship match date against top contenders like No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or No. 5 Iga Świątek — winner of four of the last five Parisian Grand Slams.

How to watch the 2025 French Open

Gauff and Keys will battle for a spot in semifinals on Tuesday morning.

The quarterfinals kick off at 5 AM ET, with live coverage on TNT.

While the undefeated New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx look down from the top, Phoenix and Atlanta are shaping up to be the early season's biggest players, as the No. 3 Mercury and No. 4 Dream continue to climb the 2025 WNBA standings.

The Mercury topped the skidding LA Sparks 85-80 on Sunday to reach 5-2 on the season, while the Dream secured their own 5-2 record after Friday's 94-87 win over the Seattle Storm.

Atlanta and Phoenix made some of league's boldest offseason moves this year, as Mercury legend Brittney Griner joined the Dream in free agency while Phoenix picked up top talent in forwards Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally.

With Thomas nursing an injury, Sabally led Phoenix over LA behind a team-high 24 points on Sunday.

Griner's 15-point, eight-rebound performance helped Atlanta quiet the Dallas Wings 83-75 on May 24th, before established stars Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard combined for 61 points against Seattle.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, the Connecticut Sun registered their first victory of the 2025 season on Friday, edging out the injury-laden Indiana Fever to become the final WNBA team to enter the win column this season.

The Sun, however, came crashing back to Earth on Sunday, falling to the reigning champion Liberty by a steep 48-point margin on the first day of Commissioner's Cup play.

How to watch WNBA games this week

The Mercury are back in action in a road match against the Lynx at 8 PM ET on Tuesday, airing live on ESPN3.

Following a full week of rest, the Dream will travel to Connecticut to take on the Sun at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on ION.

In their first match since early April, the USWNT didn't miss a beat, comfortably taking down China PR 3-0 to kick off a series of two international friendlies on Saturday.

Forward Catarina Macario opened scoring in the match's 28th minute, before midfielder Sam Coffey doubled the scoreline later in the first half. A header from captain Lindsey Heaps in the 54th minute put the finishing touch on the Saturday victory.

Head coach Emma Hayes's top-ranked USWNT played fluidly against No. 17 China PR, dominating the game's attack with more than 70% possession while notching 18 shots on goal — seven of them on target.

"I feel like I'm working a lot on trying to join the play more, get up in counter-measures. I tend to play it too safe, and think too 'worst-case scenario,' so I was just trying to join," Coffey told TBS after tallying her second international goal.

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The match also saw the international debut of 32-year-old midfielder Lo'eau Labonta, who became the oldest player to earn a first cap in USWNT history with her entrance in the game's 70th minute.

"When they called my name, I was sitting being the best cheerleader I could be on the bench," LaBonta joked after the win. "I was like, 'This is amazing. I've never been field-view watching the national team.' It was so cool."

The US will go again against No. 40 Jamaica on Tuesday, but it appears that Hayes's roster reshuffling hasn't yet hindered their ability to control games.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Jamaica friendly this week

The USWNT will take on the Reggae Girlz at 8 PM ET on Tuesday in St. Louis, Missouri, with live coverage on TNT.